Tassadar be praised! The StarCraft Spring Masters II are almost here, which naturally means it's time for some TheoryCraft - with predictions for the upcoming Gfinity Championship!
On the off-chance you didn't catch our first SC Spring Masters event; you can catch up with all the happenings over at The Recap - which may be necessary reading going forward into these predictions. Before we click things off: all opinions/thoughts contained within are absolutely personal and in no way reflect anything aside from me having fun pondering about StarCraft.
So, without further ass-covering, here's the drawn Ro16 Groups for the SC Spring Masters II:
There's a lot of Zerg clusters going on in Group A and D, but a very tasty blend of races going on in Group C and straight TvP in Group B. It all depends who gets drawn against who on the day (as it is elimination), but:
Group A: It's a very tough call on this selection, especially with Jaedong in the mix, but my heart tells me to call this for ShoWTimE & Hyun. ShoWTimE had an excellent showing in WCS Season 1, making it up to the Ro4 in the Premier League, and his matches against Kane shows he can be incredibly strong against Zerg.
Group B: This is where I can no longer listen to my heart, and must opt for my brain instead; Bunny & Patience. I know, I have a lot of love for both Heart and MC (especially MC), but given their current 2015 statistics I think TL's Bunny will have the micro advantage, and Patience will brute for his way through.
Group C: I've been staring at this Group for around 20 minutes now and I'm still not any closer to being able to call it. If I were forced to make a prediction (which I somewhat am, by writing this article) I'd call it for Sacsri & uThermal. I'd love London's home town hero Bling to pull it off of course, but I think this Group will come down to who can adapt the fasted; and Sacsri and uThermal are unpredictable enough to do it.
Group D: Hydra. Hydra Hydra Hydra, and... Damn these hard choices. Hydra & San. There. I said it, it's out there now. Solar and Symbol could easily take that second slot, however – all three are tremendous competitors. The only call here I feel incredibly confident about here in Hydra. If you saw Hydra vs. Polt in the WCS Season 1 Final you'd know exactly why I can be so confident.
“What about the Final?” Oh sweet Zeratul, I couldn't even come close to calling it with any level of logic. Not to say I'm not skilled, but with the elimination rules in place it's already hard enough to have called who will make the Ro8. Trying to call the Finals is on par with rolling a 9 twice in a row on a D&D dice.
However, if I were tied to a chair, force-fed Monster Energy, and told I'm contractually obligated to make a judgement call because I write for Gfinity: I'd put my non-existent cash down on a Hydra & ShoWTimE face-off Final.
Naturally it's near impossible to fully back up any two choices, as it could quite easily even be two from the same Group, but this article would be a lot less interesting if I wrote 50 lines stating: “Hail Hydra!” and then knocked off for the night.
There's definitely one call I'm fully, unequivocally, confident in making though: StarCraft Spring Masters II is going to be incredible. You're welcome to come back to me afterwards and call me out if that one is wrong.
The StarCraft Spring Masters II, at the Gfinity Arena in Fulham Broadway, happens this weekend from May 1st-3rd. Tickets are available now from just £12.50: Gfinity.net/Championship
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